ARTICLES & REVIEWS

Philippine Daily Inquirer
November 18, 2006

NVC STAGES FRESH, INCISIVE PLAY ABOUT WOMEN'S BODY IMAGE
by Noelani Torre

“IN THE ’50S,” SAYS PINKY AMADOR PLAY-ing Eve Ensler onstage at the Music Museum, “good girls were pretty, perky. They wore gilders and waist cinchers . . . In recent years, good girls climb the corporate ladder, go to the gym, wear pointy, painful shoes . . . They don’t eat too much—they don’t eat at all! They stay perfect. They stay thin. I could never be good.”

The audience chuckles. Hungry, trying-to-be-good girls wearing those pointy shoes wiggle their cramped toes and sigh with relief. Finally, somebody’s talking about an issue that we’ve all been ignoring for far too long. Focus Ensler, who wrote the wildly successful “The Vagina Monologues,” expands her focus to include the entire female body in her new work, “The Good Body.” In this fresh, incisive and biting play, Ensler analyzes her own—and every woman’s—painful struggle with body image.

Originally a monologue, Ensler reworked it for three voices, and this version is being premiered by the New Voice Company. Since its inception, NVC has presented us with productions that are not only entertaining, but also thought-provoking. “The Good Body” is not only funny and witty, it’s also challenging and enlightening. Insightfully directed by Rito Asilo, it stars Amador as Eve Ensler; and Monique Wilson and Juno Henares in a variety of roles. It’s a very simple production: The set is not complicated, and the actresses mostly wear black, merely adding an accessory or two when changing character.

What’s important here are the stories: There’s Eve and her problem with her stomach; Cosmopolitan’s editor, Helen Gurley Brown, and her non-stop crunches; Bernice who says, “I’m fat. So what?;” Carmen who worries about her “spread;” Carol who had a painful vaginoplasty just to make her husband happy; Priya, middle-aged, plump, and loving it; Sunita, an Afghan woman risking her life to eat illegal ice cream. Amador, Wilson and Henares give superb, compelling performances that will have your sides splitting with laughter or your throat tightening with gathering tears.

Varied voices

Their varied voices spotlight the basic insecurity and low self-worth that a lot of women, wherever they may be in the world, possess.

More often than not, when a woman looks in the mirror, she’s dissatisfied with what she sees. There’s always something wrong, something that needs to be changed, and something that stops her from looking like a perfectly airbrushed or photoshopped Cosmopolitan or Vogue model.

The fact that perfection itself is impossible to achieve isn’t even being considered anymore. This feeling of discontent is true for most women, no matter their situation in life. You only have to watch TV for five minutes, and you’ll see a skin whitening commercial aimed at dusky-skinned Filipinas.

“The Good Body” examines this self-punishing attitude, letting women’s voices show us how painful and uplifting the search for a healthy sense of self can be.

“The Good Body” returns to the Music Museum on Dec. 8 at 9 p.m.
Call 896-5497, 896-6695 or 899-0630 or E-mail nvc@pldtdsl.net